Posted at: 11/14/2011 11:06 PM
By: Antoinette Antonio, KOB Eyewitness News 4
It's something many of us haven't given much thought to: donating our organs when we die.
But did you know, one organ donor can save or help the lives of dozens�of people?
Sam Grant, 25, will tell you just how much organ donation has helped him.
When he was 17 years old he was diagnosed with Alport's syndrome.
"Alport?s syndrome is a genetic disease of the kidney which causes degeneration of the kidney over time," Sam says.
As a teenager, Sam didn't think much of his diagnosis until he went into renal failure.
Sam says, "My doctor told me point blank, if you don't get a transplant by the time you're 30 you are going to die."
He got the transplant in 2009.� It happened 10 days after his daughter Niki was born.
"I didn't think I was going to live to see her grow up and watching her grow and watching her learn and watching her play in the living room right now is just the greatest feeling of joy that I can experience," he says.
Sam's kidney donor was his uncle, Larry Harris, a paramedic in North Richland Hills, Texas.
"He's been a paramedic for 25 years. He's a big inspiration to me. He's one of the reasons I became a paramedic," Sam says of his uncle.
While Sam's was a living donor, that's not always the case.
KOB reporter Sharon Fullilove, known on-air as Sharon Erickson, signed up to be an organ donor years ago when she got a driver's license in Texas.
Sharon passed away in September after complications with surgery, so it's still too early to know how exactly her legacy lives on in terms of her organ donation.
We do know, however, that one person's organs can save up to nine lives.
Their tissue and bones can help improve the lives for as many as 50 people.
Like Sharon, 4-year-old Matthew Comfort was a deceased donor.
He died from a head injury he suffered in the bathtub.
Matthew's father, David Comfort says, "When a parent loses a child it?s a pain that no one should have to endure. It leaves a hole in your life that is never filled. It's something you remember forever."
David says donating Matthew's organs was a decision that meant other parents could be spared his pain.
"It was the easiest decision I had to make, to know that I could save another parent from feeling the same grief, it was the easiest decision I had to make," David says.
For Sam Grant, organ donation means his 2 year old daughter, Niki, will grow up with her dad.
"I love her so much. She's probably the best thing that happened to me, transplant is number two. A close number two."
More than 100,000 people need an organ transplant right now.
Each year, thousands die because an organ donor isn't found in time.
New Mexico Donor Services says about 50% of New Mexicans with drivers licenses are signed up to be organ donors but there is still a great need.
To find out more and how you can help, visit New Mexico Donor Services' website, www.nmdonor.com
